Hands up if...

Hands up if you love reading about all the ceremonial laws near the beginning of the Bible! You know, the stuff about entrails and fatty lobes and sprinkled blood and burning kidneys. 

I sometimes find I hard to stay focused when reading all those details about the various sacrifices. But as I recently worked my way through some of those instructions, something unexpectedly caught my eye. I almost missed it, because I think my mind had kind of wandered off somewhere as I'd been reading (...has that ever happened to you?). But it was as if my mind suddenly stopped me and asked me, "Did you see that?" Though I suspect it was the Holy Spirit speaking to me.

After reading some extremely detailed directions to do with daily offerings, and just before some very exacting instructions regarding how to make an altar of incense, I suddenly noticed a beautiful theme tucked in there. In Exodus 29:42, God inserts a wonderful promise to a very undeserving people (much like us): "I will meet you to speak with you."

This probably felt like a very unexpected blessing. But God goes on to reinforce it as he refers to "the door of the tabernacle of meeting." This tabernacle was a new thing for the people of Israel. We may be used to reading about it, but they'd never had one before, and God's initial reference to it is full of encouragement. First of all, the Hebrew word for "tabernacle" literally means dwelling place. And if it's a dwelling place for God, then the mention of a "door" (or an entryway), and of "meeting" (or dwelling together) sounds pretty exciting! It all reinforces one thought: God wants to be among his people.

So this isn't just some tedious passage about outdated ceremonial laws. It's an example of God going to great lengths to be in relationship with his people. This becomes increasingly clear in the verses that follow. In verse 43, God says, "I will meet with the children of Israel." Then in verse 45, God says, "I will dwell among the children of Israel." Then in verse 46, God explains that all these instructions are "that I may dwell among them."

So what has potential to feel tedious to us, as we're immersed in myriad ceremonial details, is for the express purpose of making a way for a holy God to dwell among a sinful people. God simply didn't want to be separated from his people!

This is reinforced further as God insists that he "will be their God" (v.45), and "I am the LORD their God" (v.46). And what makes this more exciting is that all of this was meant to point to Jesus. Every ceremonial law was fulfilled by the sacrifice of Jesus, and when we invite Jesus into our hearts, we become his tabernacle -- his tent of meeting -- as he abides in us and meets with us and speaks with us.

John wrote, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we seen his glory, glory as of the only son, from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). John literally wrote there that Jesus "tabernacled" among us. And the offerings once required for God to dwell among us have been completed by Jesus, who offered his life for us. The Bible tells us that "every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:11-12). And so "by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14).

So hands up if you're grateful for what Jesus did for us so that we can enjoy genuine fellowship with God! Amidst all the ceremonial details of Exodus, God wants us to recognize his Father's heart for fellowship. Those details are meant to point us to Jesus, through whom God wants to draw near to us -- right here and now -- to meet with us.

A Multitude of Mercies

I don't know about you, but sometimes as I face the trials and challenges that often come up in life, I find myself needing a greater understanding of God's love for me. His love is so big, and yet I sometimes struggle to be reassured by it.

King David of the Bible had a very clear revelation of it. He wrote in Psalm 5, "But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of your mercy..." (v.7, NKJV). The NASB says, "But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house..." The ESV refers to " the abundance of your steadfast love..."

"Mercy," "lovingkindness," "steadfast love" -- translators find it difficult to accurately translate the Hebrew word, "hesed." Hesed is love and mercy; it's steadfast and unfailing; it's kindness expressed in actions. It's the personal covenant love expressed by the God who shared his personal covenant name of Yahweh with Moses. And that's precisely who David prays to in this psalm as he begins by saying, "Give ear to my words, O LORD [Yahweh]."

Yahweh is the name God described himself by as he expressed his covenant love to his people by delivering them from bondage. The steadfast love of hesed fits with the covenant name of Yahweh, and when we recognize that, it should cause "those... who love your name [to] be joyful in You" (Ps.5:11) -- even in times of trouble or when afflicted by the wicked (see Ps.5:4-6, 8).

Psalm 5 is like a light of hope amidst the darkness in this world, and King David found that light by making Yahweh his "King" (Ps.5:2). By recognizing Yahweh as enduringly loving, and by then submitting himself to Yahweh as his King, David felt confident entering God's "house in the multitude of Your mercy" (Ps.5:7a).

David wasn't perfect, but he was a God-fearer. David goes on to say, "In fear of You, I will worship toward Your holy temple" (Ps.5:7b). And in his reverence, David recognized God's love was all he could depend on in this world. That reminds me of Psalm 147:11 -- "The LORD [Yahweh] takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love [hesed]."

It also reminds me of Hebrews 4:16, which points us to Jesus as we consider God's covenant name and his covenant love -- "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace" -- the same throne of Yahweh the King who David prayed to -- "so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." David understood the truths of Hebrews 4:16 long before they were written, and that's because he knew the King who would one day be revealed to be Jesus! 

Certainly that means that I should be as reassured as David was by the multitude of the mercies of Yahweh, who Jesus clearly identified himself to be as he said, "before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58)! The love of Jesus is the same multitude of mercies that David mentioned, and when I make Jesus my King, it should cause me to enter his house and approach his throne with confident assurance of his love.

Focus on the "You's"

If I were a writer of hymns, I wonder how many of my hymns would begin the same way David began Psalm 86. Probably too many. As David began the psalm by calling out to God, he self-consciously lamented, “I am poor and needy.” David’s initial focus in that psalm seems like one big “I” – “I am poor and needy.”

But then it’s worth noticing that in the next 16 verses, the word “You” – in reference to God – appears 18 times, and the word “Your” another 10 times. Yes, “I am poor and needy,” but David’s primary focus in response to that seems to be, “You, Your, You, You…”

Fast-forward to today, and I can certainly say that without Jesus, I am desperately poor and needy. But I know Jesus personally, and so I’ll do far better by focusing on David’s You-statements than on how poor and needy I may feel, because the truth is that with Jesus, “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us,” no matter what the circumstances (Romans 8:35-39)! Jesus is the “exact representation” of the God who David was describing in his many You-statements (Hebrews 1:3). 

David put the spotlight on God as he declared that…

• You are good
• You are ready to forgive
• You abound in steadfast love to all who call upon You
• You will answer when I call on You in times of trouble
• There is none like You
• You are great
• You do wondrous things
• You alone are God
• You are merciful
• You are gracious
• You are slow to anger
• You are abundant in mercy and faithfulness
• You have helped me
• You have comforted me

And with that, David ended the psalm.

 

David began with “I am poor and needy,” but then after declaring, “You, Your, You, You, Your, You, You, You, You, You, You, Yours, You, You, Your, You, You, Your, Your, Your, You, Your, Your, You, You, You, Your, and Your,” he ended by declaring that “You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me!”

That kind of focus helps and comforts me too. So today, I am going to focus on YOU, Lord, not on me, because that’s how I know I’ll be encouraged.

© 2021 Ken Peters

Please keep reminding me!

I continually forget how radical God’s grace is. It’s like the thick haze of my own regrets makes it difficult to see clearly as I squint amidst the clutter of my own bad attitudes and blunders. God’s grace just doesn’t compute in such circumstances. That’s why I need regular reminders of how amazing it is!

So consider this… When writing to the believers in Thessalonica, the Apostle Paul prayed that Jesus would establish their hearts as “blameless in holiness before our God and Father” (1 Thessalonians 3:13). Literally “blameless in holiness”! Remember, Paul is writing about the human species here – about people much like you and I, who fail daily, or even hourly, or even… I actually have no idea how prevalent some of my most stubborn sinful thought-patterns are! The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). But Paul wrote that when we come before God, he wants us to be assured that because of what the Lord Jesus has done for us on the cross, an infinitely Pure and Holy God will see us as blameless rather than as sinful – and as holy (meaning, set apart for Him) rather than as tainted by this world!

And because I’ve accepted by faith what Jesus did for me on the cross, when God now looks at me, He isn’t staring at my sin, because He literally took away my sin, and the righteousness of Jesus is now credited to me (check out Romans 4:22-25)! He’s not frowning at my flaws, but is smiling at my sinlessness after having nailed to the cross that “certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us” (Colossians 2:14). Paul takes his terminology even further in his letter to the Colossians as he explains how Jesus presents us before God as “holy and blameless and beyond reproach” (Colossians 1:22). Imagine that... Whatever we’re struggling with in our walk with God, we should consider ourselves totally out of reach from the clutching claws of reproach (which includes self-reproach!).

Thank you, Lord Jesus! That is what I continually need reminding of, and is why we have reason to be confident and joyful every time we approach God’s Glorious Throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16)!

© 2019 by Ken Peters

A Hope that defies the storm

Imagine this with me... 

A great galleon has battened down and stowed its sails amidst the tearing winds and driving rain of a raging storm. As the winds roar and the ship rises and falls upon the heavy seas, a stout chain of impressive length glimmers in the spray as it vanishes beneath the angry waves. Deep below, in the dark and muted waters, at the other end of that massive chain is an ancient sea anchor, a mass of tempered steel, that firmly grips the ocean floor. Back at the tumultuous surface of the sea, the boat’s crew is safely below deck, eager for the abatement of the storm, though confident that their anchor in the depths below will keep them safely parted from where the rushing waves loudly crash upon a rocky shore.

It’s a scene of great noise and upheaval. Furious winds, heaving waves, and creaking masts. But in the depths beneath the waves, amidst a reassuring stillness, that long slowly swaying chain of steel leads to an immense unflinching hook, steadfast in its tireless hold despite the storm above. This immovable anchor represents the life-sustaining hope that we can have in a covenant-keeping God who has shown us through Jesus how far He will go to keep His promises to a rebellious human race. It is a hope “both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19a).

But look back with me again to that great galleon in the storm. Every sailor on that ship, however certain they may be of their trusty anchor, will still be feeling rattled and storm-tossed by the heaving waves (and maybe even a little sea-sick). So I’m thankful that the writer of Hebrews provides an additional metaphor of the hope we have in God.

Imagine being aboard that ship amidst such stormy winds and rain, enduring the constant turbulence and tumult, and then suddenly!... All the noise and motion abruptly cease even as the storm outside continues to roar. It’s as if all disruption aboard the ship has suddenly been forcefully evicted from your cabin by an overpowering Presence of peace and awe while at that same moment, you sense you’re not alone. Someone Great but quite unseen feels very near. You also see that you’re now standing inside a curtain that stretches from floor to roof creating a small private chamber with just enough room for you and the wonderful Presence that has suddenly given you complete peace and stability amidst the storm.

Welcome to the “inner place behind the curtain” (Hebrews 6:19b, ESV) — the holiest place of all the holy places in the Old Testament tabernacle — where only the high priest could enter, and only after great sacrifice and ceremony. It was the place of God’s presence — a place of intimate communion with the living God, but also a place of fear and dread as sinner-priests drew near to a holy God. But with Jesus having taken the penalty for all our sins upon Himself, God now invites us to find a reassuring hope in our loving communion with Him behind that veil, whatever storms may rage all around it.

So anchor your soul in what Jesus did for us on the cross, and then pass through the curtain to fellowship with Jesus in the Holy of Holies, where waves and wind cease; and where we find hope amidst the upheaval of this world.

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil” 

Hebrews 6:19

© 2019 by Ken Peters

Lacking in Nothing

What would it be like to lack nothing at all? I’m not talking about possessions you can buy, but about what’s on the inside – our character. What would it be like to lack absolutely nothing in terms of character and maturity? It sounds like a ridiculous question, but the Apostle James actually points us in that exact direction. Simply put, he appears to say that if we want to lack nothing, we have to be willing to give up everything!

He begins by saying, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials...” (James 1:2). Trials. By that, he means troubles – difficulties and dangers – hard times. He’s talking about having JOY in the face of BIG problems. Seriously. Remember, the people he was writing to were experiencing a measure of persecution for their faith. The trials they were going through may have included prison and the loss of property such as what the writer of Hebrews describes in Hebrews chapter 10. And James suggests that they “consider it all joy” to go through such trials, just as the writer of Hebrews says that his readers “joyfully accepted the plundering of [their] property” (Hebrews 10:34)! Wow. There’s an picture of a people prepared to give up everything.

In our 21st century North American lives, trials are more likely to be a health issue, a fractured relationship, or crisis situation at work, which can leave us feeling like we’re giving up a sense of security or stability or certainty.

James then goes on to write “…knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” Here we begin to see the connection between giving things up and yet lacking nothing. James reminds us that external troubles can actually strengthen us internally. When our physical muscles are tested with the resistance of heavy weights, we get stronger. And when our faith is tested by heavy trials, we grow in character – endurance being an expression of our character. And that’s the reason to “consider it all joy.” Trials may result in a loss of things – such as security, stability, or certainty, or even property – but they can also result in the development of character – such as, growth in endurance.

James continues: “And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:3-4). That last phrase gets my attention every time! What would it be like to truly be “lacking in nothing” in terms of my character development? It seems so lofty to even aim for that I find it jarring to see James suggesting it. But I think it’s the very same thing that the Apostle Peter was talking about when he wrote, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7). Yes, trials can lead to the loss of earthly things, but trials can also produce spiritual formation in us that leave us with a faith that’s more precious than any of those things – a faith that allows us to praise and glorify and honour Jesus even as we endure significant trials!

And when our faith in God, our hearts being fully assured of His love and faithfulness, we’re expressing what I think James meant when he said we’d be lacking “nothing.” If I know God is truly for me, I will endure – and not with gritted teeth, but with an abundance of the hope, joy, and peace that all come from believing God (Romans 15:13). Though it’s never easy, the challenges of trials don’t need to feel a threat – because the losses we incur can be far surpassed by the work God wants to do in us, causing a growth in us to believe God for so much more!

© 2019 by Ken Peters

Joy and Peace for Each and Every Day

Joy and peace have been dominant Christmas themes ever since angels came to dramatically announce Jesus’ birth. But God wants joy and peace to be dominant themes of our lives each and every day. That’s why the Apostle Paul wrote, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13).

Paul’s blessing makes it clear how joy and peace can be everyday experiences in our lives. Paul essentially explains that “believing” is the tap handle we can turn for joy and peace to flow in our lives! But precisely what are we to believe? There are obviously many false and harmful beliefs that don’t result in joy and peace! The context makes it clear in Romans 15:8-12 that Paul is writing about believing and hoping in Jesus. “...In Him shall the Gentiles hope” (Romans 15:12).

These verses in Romans 15 highlight that Jesus, whom those angels excitedly announced, is the inexhaustible source of true joy and peace for those who believe in Him. But another biblical writer has a very helpful way of explaining how God wants our beliefs to be aimed: “...he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). In other words, we’re called to believe very specifically that, no matter what the circumstances, God is who He says He is, and that all His promises of blessings and rewards for us are true.

The Christmas message is not lost in all this. Jesus came in that manger scene and ministered in this world to reveal who God is and how much He loves us. We’re told that Jesus is “the exact representation of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3). So this Christmas, whatever circumstances you may be facing, reach for that tap handle of believing that God is exactly who He has revealed Himself to be, and that all His promises are true for you. And abound in an enduring hope in He who “has been born for you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11)!

© 2017 by Ken Peters

God, Are You Still Listening?

...Hope For Imperfect Prayers

(This post first appeared as an article at desiringGod.org)

Does God really listen to our prayers? Does he really hear us when we cry out to him?

Sometimes we pray for a long time about big things, like a health issue or a prodigal child or a difficult work situation, and things don’t get better. We wonder if God’s been paying attention.

I prayed for my wife regarding a life-threatening disease for 27 long years. We prayed and prayed, but her condition only worsened. Why aren’t you answering, God? How could it be true that you have “heard my voice and my pleas for mercy” (Psalm 116:1)? It doesn’t feel like you have “attended to the voice of my prayer” (Psalm 66:19).

Perhaps my faith wasn’t strong enough. Maybe I wasn’t good enough. Such questions assaulted me like a tribunal of vicious accusers. They wore me down, leaving me doubting and discouraged.

Persist in Prayer

“How many of us can say we’ve prayed single-mindedly for something huge we were looking to God for?”

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I continued to look to God’s word for encouragement. There was certainly no shortage of it. For example, Jesus told the people “a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). This was the story of the persistent widow who only received an answer because she kept coming and asking — she refused to give up. Jesus then asked, “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?” (Luke 18:7).

Is that the sort of persistence in prayer that’s required? Many of us who have prayed for years for the same thing have sometimes lost heart amid the ups and downs of waiting for God. And then we’ve wondered how God could possibly answer our inconsistent prayers. This is how the accuser can use God’s word to discourage us.

Faith in Prayer

Jesus is also clear that faith in prayer is vital. He’s bold in his promises about what will happen when we pray in faith. Jesus said,

“If you have faith and do not doubt . . . if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (Matthew 21:21–22)

How many of us can say we’ve prayed that single-mindedly — without doubting — for something huge we were looking to God for? If we had, this passage tells us that we’d have seen the answer and been left rejoicing rather than discouraged due to our doubts and double-mindedness (James 1:6–8). Many of us likely feel like we’re lacking that kind of faith.

Never Good Enough

So what do we do when important passages like these leave us struggling with self-recrimination rather than encouraged amid lengthy battles in prayer? Will God only answer our prayers when we measure up to such impossible standards like praying day and night or having faith to move mountains? Such teachings might leave us thinking that we’re just not good enough.

But perhaps that’s exactly what Jesus wants us to realize. Perhaps the liberation we long for from that tribunal of accusers is that very admission: We are not good enough! Our prayers aren’t good enough. And there is nothing in our life with God for which we are good enough!

Boast in Your Weakness

Yes, God certainly looks for faith. Yes, we must persist. Yes, earnestly seek God to believe and endure. But even as we do, we recognize that we’ll always be deficient in faith and deficient in persistence on this side of heaven. Yet, this should not hinder us from embracing the reality that when “this poor man cried . . . the Lord heard him” (Psalm 34:6).

“Because Jesus has earned his Father’s ear, we can rest assured that God hears our every prayer.”

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We need God’s help to endure in faithful prayer when things are not going well. The most confident and steadfast saints put no trust in the level of faith they attain, but only trust that Jesus himself is “the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). They know that “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). Prayerful saints trust Jesus to be our “advocate with the Father,” who covers our sinful inconsistency and unbelief with the very blood he shed for us (1 John 2:1–2).

Jesus Fills What We Lack

This gives us boldness as we persist in crying out to God, even though we know that our prayers are never good enough. God more than makes up for our inadequacies when our trust rests first in the person of Jesus, rather than first in our own disposition in prayer. Yes, the disposition matters. But the decisive factor is God’s riches of mercy and grace to meet us in our need.

And speaking of God’s mercy, God certainly did answer all those prayers for my wife, when in his perfect timing, she finally received a kidney transplant in 2015. We are daily grateful for God’s gift of life to us!

We aren’t good enough, but Jesus is. And because he has earned his Father’s ear, we can rest assured that God hears our every prayer.

© 2017 by Ken Peters

It's all in a Name

I don't know about you, but I sometimes struggle to trust God – especially when things aren't going very well. That's why I was so encouraged when I found in Psalm 9 a beautiful summary of the secret to trusting God.

In this psalm of praise to God, King David wrote that "those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you." (Psalm 9:10)

It's all there, packed into that one little verse: A life-changing declaration followed by its own confidence-inspiring explanation; a "this can be you because this is true" sort of statement. It's the kind of pronouncement that it'd be good to meditate on every day. And the focus is entirely on a name – a very important name of the One we're meant to continually trust, even when times are tough.

To begin with, we can see that it's the people who know God's name whom David singles out. They're the ones whom David describes as decisively choosing to trust God. Why is that? Why would simply having a name to call someone, even if that someone was God, give me reason to trust them?

David explains that in the very next statement, beginning with the word "for" (which could just as easily been translated "because"), and in his explanation, he very clearly chooses the name, LORD, as the name he has in mind for God: "...for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you." David is essentially saying, Those who know God as Yahweh will most certainly trust God! In English translations of the Old Testament, when the name, LORD, is spelled in all capital letters, it's a reference to the Hebrew name, Yahweh (Jehovah in English). Other Hebrew names for God in the Old Testament are Elohim (spelled "God") and Adonai (spelled "Lord"), each carrying their own emphases and meanings, and each used in specific contexts for specific reasons. But Yahweh is by far the most commonly used name in the Old Testament, and that is the name David used here because it's the name that spoke most loudly of God's trustworthiness and faithfulness.

David knew that Yahweh was the name God revealed to Moses at the burning bush when God said, "I AM WHO I AM... Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you... The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations" (Exodus 3:14-15). It was in this context, when God first revealed His name as Yahweh, that He said, "I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites... a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:17). 

In other words, Yahweh was a name packed with promises to David's listeners – promises that they knew God had kept! And the name, Yahweh, was the name God gave in order to enter into a forever-covenant with His people – a covenant that He would never break, for it would be against His holy nature to do so. That makes Yahweh the name for a covenant-keeping God who is eternally faithful, always with us, never forsaking us. It's also encouraging that the name Yahweh is derived from the repetition of the words "I AM." The repetition of these words in His name is meant to assure us that God is, in fact, very real, and that He does not change, and that He will always be exactly who He knows we need Him to be, whatever we're facing!

The writer to the Book of Hebrews must have had this in mind when he wrote that "without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). 

David certainly understood this as he wrote Psalm 9. And if we truly know God's beautiful name – and all it represents in the context of the many bold promises and covenants He has made in that name throughout His Word – we too will be inspired to trust this God who has never yet forsaken those whose hearts are set on Him.

© 2017 by Ken Peters

I want this superpower!

I came across a rare superpower in the Bible that I'd like to have. This valauble but often overlooked power has even been borrowed and adapted for some Marvel comic characters, though I much prefer the true-to-life Biblical version.

It's important to remind ourselves that any superpowers described in the Bible are quite different than the superpowers imagined as part of the hugely popular DC and Marvel Comics Universes. The musclebound fictional superheroes of these comics all operate according to powers inherent in them and controlled by them. The real-life superheroes of the Bible, though, all operated according to powers belonging solely to God and controlled by God, meaning that these men and women might've appeared as scrawny, humble types of no seeming consequence. But the vast army of superheroes in the Bible did things of great consequence, and were able to do so because of God's great power at work in or through them – whether it was Moses calling up cascades of water from desert rocks, or Elijah calling down devouring flames from the sky, or Daniel sleeping unharmed among hungry lions. God's superpowers at work in God's humble servants made mighty heroes of them all. Just check out Hebrews, chapter 11 for a list of what they achieved through faith in a great God of incalculable power!

But there is one superhero in the Bible whose superpower from God is often forgotten when celebrating the Heroes of the Faith, and it is this superpower that seems so appealing to me. The hero's name is Ezekiel, and his superpower is truly the stuff of legends. The Marvel Comic Universe wouldn't have created the indestructible Wolverine or the awesome power of Ultron if it weren't for this great power. I speak of the mythical adamant stone, from which is derived the fictional alloy of adamantium. Because God knew that Ezekiel would face great opposition due to the harsh and disappointing nature of the message God gave him to deliver to His people, God transformed Ezekiel's forehead into adamant stone, the hardest substance in all the earth. "Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house" (Ezekiel 3:9, NKJV). Other translations use the word "emery" or "flint" due to the unfamiliarity of the archaic term "adamant," but I prefer the strong and illustrative connotations of the adamant stone.

To us today, the word "adamant" is a descriptive word rather than an object. It means to be firm and unyielding, resolute and determined. A person who is adamant will not give in to anything. But before it was an adjective, "adamant" was a noun: a legendary stone of impenetrable hardness, its root meanings including untamable, unconquerable and unyielding. The Greek word adamas, from which it is derived, meant unbreakable or invincible. To have a forehead of adamant stone would enable a person to withstand anything that came against it, any opposition, any conflict, any warfare. (No wonder Marvel Comics latched onto it!) It is such meanings that give the word such force and make it such an excellent choice for the translators of Ezekiel's story. Ezekiel, with his super-powerful forehead of adamant stone, had been called by God to be unyielding and unwavering in the face of forceful opposition!

Ah, but of course, this is all meant to be understood in a figurative sense, and would be more accurately understood as God giving Ezekiel a resilient spirit in the face of stiff resistance, but I still love the graphic language God used to describe His equipping of His prophet Ezekiel. And it's a superpower from God that I often long for in the face of the many challenges life throws at me.

I think all of us would benefit from asking God for a forehead of adamant stone, so long as we used it wisely. I would want to use it to express my determination to trust God no matter what! But it's important to remember that it is only meant for those who are facing great resistance or strong opposition. Do I want that? Deep down, I suspect I have no choice if I want to follow Jesus. Following Jesus means entering a spiritual battle for which we need to be heavily armed with spiritual weapons that reflect God's divine enablement and protection. So I'm simply saying that having a superstrong forehead of adamant stone that reflects an unyielding, unshakable and absolutely indestructible faith in God is among my God-given superpowers of choice.

© 2016 by Ken Peters